Who Is Corrupted In Plato's Apology

In Plato’s Apology, Meletus brings Socrates to court. There are two charges being brought against Socrates at trial: corrupting the youth and impiety. Despite the meaning of the term “apology,” Socrates is not apologizing for his actions. Instead, he attempts to defend himself and his behavior. Before Socrates speaks about his current charges, he addresses old charges that were once brought upon him. He states, “Far more dangerous are the others who took possession of your minds with their falsehoods, telling of one Socrates, a wise man, who speculated about the heaven above, and searched into the Earth beneath, and made the worse appear the better cause” (22). Socrates explains that these charges were rumors, which stemmed from the oracle

Socrates defends himself by calling upon Meletus and interrogating him. He asks Meletus, “Do not the good do their neighbors good, and the bad do them evil?” (26). Meletus agrees, and is then asked, “Do you allege that I corrupt the youth intentionally?” (26). Meletus claims that Socrates does corrupt them intentionally. Therefore, Socrates states that if he intentionally harmed anyone, he must want to be harmed in return, since corruption would make people evil, and that these people would in turn harm him. Meletus then admits that nobody would want to be injured. At this point, Socrates can conclude that he did not intentionally corrupt the youth, since he would not want to be harmed. Socrates then states, “If my offence in unintentional, the law has no cognizance of unintentional offences.” (26). In other words, if Socrates corrupted the youth unintentionally, he cannot be charged with any sort of crime. Socrates then concludes that if Meletus believed he intentionally corrupted the youth, he should have instead spoken to him about corrupting the youth in private, giving him the chance to correct his behavior, instead of charging him in the court of

He reads aloud this charge, which states, “Socrates does not believe in the gods of the state, but has other new divinities of his own.” In other words, Meletus suggests that not only does Socrates fail to recognize the existing Gods, but he also invents new Gods. Socrates again questions Meletus; he asks him, “I do not understand whether you affirm that I teach other men to acknowledge some gods, and therefore that I do believe in gods… or do you mean that I am an atheist simply, and a teacher of atheism?” (26). Meletus then replies, “I mean the latter – that you are a complete atheist” (26). At this point, Socrates observes that Meletus is contradicting himself. He explains that at first, Meletus charged him with creating new Gods, while he now accuses Socrates of not believing in Gods at all. Socrates then proceeds to ask, “Why do you think so, Meletus? Do you mean that I do not believe in the godhead of the sun or moon, like other men?” (26). Meletus responds, “I assure you judges, that he does not: for he says that the sun is stone, and the moon earth” (26). Socrates makes another clear point that he never made this claim, but rather, Anaxagoras the Clazomenian made this claim in his books. At this point, Socrates has presented enough significant pieces of evidence to question the truth of Meletus’s